Gonzales, Rose Ann V.

BSE- English
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ANCIENT WESTERN DRAMA
Greek Drama
Use of masks to
distinguish between
the different
characters
Plays of the
ancient Greek
theatre always
included a Chorus
that offered a
variety of
background and
summary
information to help
the audience follow
the performance.
Due to limited
numbers of
performers, same
actors played in
several roles.
Womans role is
played by male

Roman Theater
Romans borrowed
Greek and Etruscan
methods in their own
theatre, but made
them distinctly
Roman by improving
and modifying those
methods.
Stock characters are
used. These
characters that eject
the shift in the story.
The role of the
Chorus diminished,
until it functioned as
little more than a
source of interlude
music during scene
changes.

Medieval Trends
Medieval drama
was for the most part
very religious and
moral in its themes,
staging and
traditions.
Five notable types
of Medieval drama:
Mummings, Mystery
play, Miracle play,
Morality play and
Manners.
Actors,
predominantly male,
typically wore long,
dark robes.

Tragedy central
focus (concerning
gods)

Comedy central
focus (romantic
situations)

Liturgical Drama:
Before 1200, most
were still being done
inside the church as
part of the liturgy.
Most were probably
still in Latin, the
language of the
Church.

Greek theater
buildings were
called a theatron.
The theaters were
large, open-air
structures
constructed on the
slopes of hills. They
consisted of three

Much of the
architectural
influence on the
Romans came from
the Greeks, and
theatre structural
design was no
different from other
buildings. However,

By 1350, plays
were in the
vernacular, rather
than Latin. Laymen
were the actors (male
members of the
community, unpaid
though there were
some women on

Unlimited number
of actors

Renaissance Period

principal elements:
the orchestra, the
skene, and the
audience
Orchestra was
circular and used as
a performance space

Roman theatres have

specific differences,
such as being built
upon their own
foundations instead of
earthen works or a
hillside and being
completely enclosed
on all sides.

stage in France), no
longer clerics and
priests.
Two major kinds
of stages in the
medieval theatre:
Fixed and Moveable
Fixed Staging
>Mansions set up in
available spaces
(courtyards, town
squares, etc.), usually
arranged in straight
lines or rectangles or
circles, depending on
the space.
>Heaven and Hell
were at opposite ends,
if possible.
Moveable
>pageant wagons
moved through the
streets while the
audience stayed in
one place like
parade floats.
The major
contributions of the
Medieval theatre are
the use of the
vernacular, spectacle,
stage direction and
the use of farce.